Financial management system

ABSTRACT

A financial management system including presentation means for presenting financial information to a user wherein at least some of the financial information is represented by at least one graphic, manipulation means for manipulating the at least one graphic in response to an action of a user, and modifying means for modifying the financial information based on the manipulation of the at least one graphic.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to financial management systems and particularlythose embodied in computer hardware or software.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many people do not have a clear understanding of the fundamentalprinciples and concepts which underlie the management of finances andfind interpreting numerical accounts reports to be very difficult. Toassist with this, some financial management systems provide accountsreports that are expressed with the aid of graphics such as graphs orcharts. However, the user is required to operate the system by workingexclusively with numerical data in order to produce such a graphicalreport. Thus, a level of competence and understanding of numericalaccounts information is still required to operate systems of thesetypes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the present invention provides a financial managementsystem including: presentation means for presenting financialinformation to a user wherein the financial information includes aplanned value in respect of a pre-determined period of time, a targetvalue being a proportion of the planned value at a pre-determined pointduring the period of time, and an actual value as at the pre-determinedpoint during the period of time, each of the planned value, the targetvalue and the actual value being represented by a graphic; the graphicsare associated with one another so that the variance between the targetvalue and the actual value is visually apparent to the user; the systemfurther including manipulation means for manipulating at least one ofthe graphics in response to an action of a user; and modifying means formodifying the financial information based on the manipulation of the atleast one graphic.

By use of this system, financial information can be worked upon whilstit is represented in a graphical format because manipulation of thegraphic results in a change to the financial information that thegraphic represents. The use of graphics makes operation of the systemopen to those who do not have a clear understanding of financialinformation when it is represented wholly numerically and may alsoimprove ease of use even for those who are comfortable with interpretingpurely numerical financial information.

In this specification the term “graphic” denotes-a pictorialrepresentation of information as opposed to representation by a seriesof numbers or text characters.

The value of the financial information that the at least one graphicrepresents may be proportional to a dimension of the graphic and thegraphic may be manipulated by being resized.

The value of the financial information that the at least one graphicrepresents may correspond to the position of the graphic and-the graphicmay be manipulated by being moved.

The system may further include creation means for creating a graphic andthe financial information represented by that graphic.

The system may further include means for generating icons indicative ofpositive and negative financial status.

The system may further include means for storing the financialinformation.

The system may further include means for substituting the at least onegraphic by an alternative graphic. This allows a user to select thegraphical format that is most easily understood by them or mostappropriate for their needs.

The means for presenting the financial information may represent thefinancial information wholly numerically. In this way, the system canoutput financial information in a wholly numerical format for use bypersons who have an understanding of wholly numerical financial reports.Thus, by use of the system a user can receive numerical financialinformation such as from their accountant, manipulate the information byuse of graphics, and then represent the modified information numericallyfor sending back to their accountant.

The system may further include means for generating icons representativeof budget items within an overall budget.

The system may further include means for associating a graphic with eachicon whereby that budget item can be modified by manipulating thegraphic.

The system may further include means for generating icons representing atime period over which a budget is to extend.

In a second aspect the present invention provides a method of managingfinancial information including the steps of: presenting financialinformation to a user wherein the financial information includes aplanned value in respect of a pre-determined period of time, a targetvalue being a proportion of the planned value at a pre-determined pointduring the period of time, and an actual value as at the pre-determinedpoint during the period of time, each of the planned value, the targetvalue and the actual value being represented by a graphic; associatingthe graphics with one another so that the variance between the targetvalue and the actual value is visually apparent to the user;manipulating at least one of the graphics in response to an action of auser; and modifying the financial information based on the manipulationof the at least one graphic.

The step of manipulating the at least one graphic may further includethe step of resizing the graphic.

The step of manipulating the at least one graphic may further includethe step of moving the graphic.

The method may further include the step of creating a graphic and thefinancial information represented by that graphic.

The method may further include the step of generating iconsindicative,of positive and negative financial status.

The method may further include the step of storing the financialinformation.

The method may further include the step of substituting the at least onegraphic by an alternative graphic.

The method may further include the step of representing the financialinformation wholly numerically.

The method may further include the step of generating iconsrepresentative of budget items within an overall budget.

The method may further include the step of associating a graphic witheach icon whereby that budget item can be modified by manipulating thegraphic.

The method may further include the step of generating icons representinga time period over which a budget is to extend.

In a third aspect the present invention provides a computer programarranged to instruct a computing system to implement a system accordingto the first aspect of the invention.

In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a computer readablemedium carrying a computer program according to the third aspect of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a personal computer used toimplement a system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of financial information presented to a userby an embodiment of a system according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an alternative set of financial informationbeing presented to a user by the system used for FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the financial information being presentedin FIG. 2, but in a wholly numerical format;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an alternative set of financial informationpresented to a user by the same system used for FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is another illustration of still a further set of financialinformation presented to a user by the same system used for FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a personal computer 20 suitable for implementingsystems according to embodiments of the present invention is shown.Computer 20 operates under the instruction of a software program storedon hard disk data storage device 21. Computer 20 further includes aprocessor 22, memory 23, display screen 24, printer 25 and input devicesmouse 26 and keyboard 27. The computer may have communications meanssuch as a network connection 28 a to the internet 28 b to facilitatetransfer and sharing of data.

The system of this embodiment includes storage means in the form of acombination of hard drive 21 and memory 23. The system includespresentation means in the form of a display screen 24 which displays ascreen image under the control of a video output of computer 20. Thesystem includes manipulation means embodied in software whichcommunicates with mouse 26 and keyboard 27 to allow a user tomanipulates a graphic on display screen 24. The system includes creationmeans embodied in computer software arranged to create a graphic and thefinancial information represented by that graphic. The system storesfinancial information in the storage means and includes modificationmeans embodied in software that modifies the stored financialinformation based on the manipulation of the graphic. The displaypresented to the user is frequently updated by refreshing the image ondisplay screen 24 to reflect the modifications made to the financialinformation.

The system will be conveniently explained by reference to anillustrative embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, an example of financialinformation being presented to a user of the system is shown where someof the financial information is represented graphically. In thisexample, the financial information relates to budgeting the spending ofa building grant awarded to an Australian Aboriginal community and thefinancial information is presented to a user in the form of a financialreport.

Level indicator 1 includes an icon which represents the level of theorganisation to which the report relates. In this example the level ofthe organisation is indicated as a single cost centre or budget area byan icon showing a single building.

Report type indicator 2 includes an icon which represents the type ofinformation that is being presented in the report. In this example anexpenditure report is indicated by an icon indicating outgoing money.

Organisation graphic 3 indicates the particular organisation to whichthe report relates. This graphic is selected by or on behalf of theentity to which the report relates. In this example the graphic isselected by the Aboriginal community and is used in relation to allreports that concern that community.

Report period graphic 4 indicates the period to which the reportrelates. In this example the period is for the Australian financial yearand is represented by positions of the sun during the four seasons ofthe year in a non tropical location.

Post report period graphic 5 indicates a time period following thereport period. In this example it is the first month of the financialyear following the year indicated by report period graphic 4.

Full year grant bar graph 6 is scaled so that its height is proportionalto the full year building grant that has been allocated to thecommunity. The actual financial amount is represented numerically belowthe bar graph.

Budget lines 18 summarise information relating to budgeted activitieswithin the full year grant 6.

Full year budget bar graphs 7 are scaled in height in proportion to thesize of the budget which has been allocated to the particular activitysuch as “Office Work, “Computers” etc. Again, the correspondingfinancial amount is represented below each bar graph.

Year to date budget line 8 indicates at what point in time the year todate budget is being assessed. In this example, the year to date budgetline 8 intersects the period graphic 4 at the month indicated by thegraphic “Dec”. This indicates that the year to date budget is beingassessed at the month of December.

Year to date actual bar graphs 10 are horizontal bar graphs where thelength of the bar indicates the proportion of the full year budget 7 forthat item that has actually been spent to date. If the year to dateactual bar graph 10 extends to the right of year to date budget line 8then this indicates that the expenditure to date exceeds that which wasbudgeted for. The part of year to date actual bar graph 10 that extendsto the right of year to date budget line 8 may be coloured red-or anyother suitable colour to alert a user to the over budget condition. Ifthe year to date actual expenditure for an activity exceeds the fullyear budget amount then year to date actual bar graph 10 extends intopost period graphic 5. If the year to date actual expenditure for anactivity exceeds 13/12ths of the full year budget amount this overbudget condition is brought to the attention of a user by the presenceof arrow 13. Arrow 13 may be coloured red to highlight the over budgetcondition.

Year to date actual total bar graph 9 is a horizontal bar graph. Thelength of bar graph 9 indicates the total expenditure to date as aproportion of the full year grant 6. Total year to date actual bar graph9 is a summary of year to date actual bar graphs 10.

Variance indicator bar graphs 11 give an indication of the degree ofvariance between actual expenditure to date and budgeted expenditure todate. The height of the bar graph is proportional to the ratio of thevariance to the budgeted amount. If the bar graph extends upwardly fromthe baseline 19 this indicates that actual spending is below thebudgeted amount. If the bar graph extends downwardly from the baselinethis indicates that actual spending is above the budgeted amount. *Bargraphs extending downwardly may be coloured red or another suitablecolour to alert a user to the over budget condition. The actual varianceamounts are represented numerically below the,respective varianceindicator bar graphs.

Some of the information already discussed in the report is shown in analternative graphical format by tank graphic 14. The total volume of thetank indicated by tank graphic 14 represents the total annual grant 6.The target line 15 represents the year to date budget 8. The liquidremaining 16 in the tank represents the amount of the total annual grantthat currently remains unspent this being the total year to date actualsubtracted from the total annual grant 6. The difference in heightbetween the top of the liquid remaining 16 and target line 15 representsthe year to date variance. The user can select in what graphical formthe financial information is displayed and can substitute an existinggraphic for an alternative graphic, each representing the sameinformation. Year to date actual bar graphs 10 could be substituted bytank type graphics.

Emphasis indicators, in this example in the form of icons, are used todraw the users attention to particular points of positive or negativefinancial status. Negative emphasis indicators 12 draw attention to anover budget condition. Positive emphasis indicators 17 are positionednext to two year to date actual bar graphs 10 together with the-text“Spent Once Off”. They indicate that once off expenditure items havebeen recorded in a recurrent budget. Thus, the over expenditureindicated by year to date actual bar graphs 10 is not of particularconcern because no further expenditure for these activities will be madeduring the remainder of the period.

Now that the structure of the report, and the meanings of the variousgraphical elements has been explained, it will be described, withreference to the illustrated example, how a user may operate the systemby the manipulation-of graphics.

Creating A Budget Plan

The user, in this example being a member of the council of theAboriginal community, is reviewing a government grant for the newfinancial year. They enter the purpose and the amount of the grant intothe system and a report of the type shown in FIG. 2 is displayed. Atthis stage, no budget lines 18 are present in the report.

The user creates budget lines 18 by selecting a command “create budgetline”. This may be done by selecting from a drop down menu or clicking atoolbar icon as is well known in the art. The system then requires theuser to select from a range of titles for the budget line such as“Office Work”, “Computers”, “Repairs” etc, each having an iconassociated with it and representing the title. For instance, the title“Repairs” is indicated by a collection of tradesman's tools.Alternatively, the user may create a new budget line title and select anappropriate icon to represent that budgeted activity. The system thenrequires the user to allocate a full year budget for this activity. Theuser does this by dragging up full year bar graph 7 to the desiredheight. During the dragging operation, the value of the full yearbudget, corresponding to the height of the bar graph is continuouslyupdated as a numerical financial amount displayed beneath the full yearbar graph,7. This can be used as a visual cue to the user when draggingtop of full year bar graph 7 to the desired height. Additional budgetlines 18 may be created in the same manner.

If the grant is for the same purpose as a grant that has already beenentered into the system, such as for the previous financial year, thenthe report for the previous financial year may be displayed alongsidethe newly created report. The user may drag budget lines from theexisting report to the new report thus obviating the need to selectbudget line titles and set full year budgets for the budget lines.Reference to the earlier financial report assists a user in providingall the relevant budget lines. It also assists a user in identifyingwhat activities in the previous year went over or under budget. Thusassisting with the allocation of appropriate full year budget amounts.

When allocating budget amounts, the system alerts a user if they attemptto allocate more money than the value of the grant. Similarly, thesystem will inform the user of how much money remains unallocated. Thesystem alerts the user if they are not permitted to alter the budgetthat they are attempting to alter according to privileges associatedwith their user name.

In the case of allocating full year budgets the user may usealternatives to dragging the budget graphs to the desired height. Onealternative is illustrated in FIG. 3. The full year grant 6 is displayedat 6A as a bar divided with dividers 40 into segments 41. The size ofeach segment represents the full year budgets for a particular budgetline shown in FIG. 2 (Office Work, Computer etc). To adjust budgets theuser moves the dividers 40 on screen with use of a mouse to adjust thesize of the segments 41. At 6B it can be seen that the divider betweenitems “Office Work” and “Computer” has been moved downwards. This hasthe effect of increasing the amount budgeted for Office Work and at thesame time reducing the amount budgeted for Computer. When changes aremade in this way, the actuals 10 and variances 11 in the display of FIG.2 change accordingly.

The system stores the financial information in a database in the storagemeans. The database is structured to store the financial information asa collection of discrete values and relationships. These values may bedisplayed either in a numerical or graphical format or a combination ofthese. These different formats own the same properties. The systemallows the user flexibility of presentation to build the sorts of formsthey may require.

The plans created by the operations detailed above may be compared toother plans or compared to actuals. Conversely, the operator may startwith actuals which may be compared to plans previously prepared. Alsothese plans or actuals may be linked to targets, indicators,requirements and performances. The plan may be further revised ormodified in a similar manner as circumstances require.

Modifying a Budget Plan

Referring again to FIG. 2, at any time after creating the budget plan,the full year budget amounts may be adjusted, for instance to reflect arevised estimate of the budget for a particular activity. This is doneby clicking on the top of the full year bar graph 7 that is to bemodified and resizing it accordingly. Again, a numerical financialamount is displayed below the bar graph to assist a user in performingthe resizing operation. Any operation that changes the stored data orprints the stored data is logged in an audit trail.

Associating Spending with Budget Plan

When invoices or accounts payable are received, they are entered intothe system. The information from each invoice line is entered into thedatabase and stored as an object associated with an icon. An invoiceline is an item in an invoice that may include a brief description ofthe item and an amount to be paid for that item. The most appropriateicon is selected by the user. Relationship data is also recorded byaction of the user that identifies the budget line most closely relatedto the invoice line.

The icons associated with the invoice lines are displayed to he user.The user then drags the icons representing each invoice line to thebudget line which most closely covers the goods or services to whicheach invoice line relates. If an icon is dropped onto a budget line thatis inappropriate according to the predefined relationship data then awarning issues. When an invoice is associated with a budget line, theyear to date actual bar graph changes its size to represent the changesthat were made. The associated variance indicator bar graph 11 alsochanges to reflect the change.

Once an invoice has been dropped onto a budget line it can subsequentlybe moved to another budget line of the same category by dragging anddropping. This principle may be extended to other types of financialdocument and other types of graphical presentation. The user maysubsequently inspect which invoice lines have been dropped onto a budgetline by using a software command such as that known as “MagnifyingGlass” and clicking on the budget line for which detailed invoice lineinformation is required.

Referring to FIG. 4, the financial information that is being representedby FIG. 2 is shown wholly numerically in a table. At any time a user caninstruct the system to represent the financial information stored in thedatabase in a wholly numerical format. So, after working with theinformation in a graphical format the user may represent or output thefinancial information in a wholly numerical format. They may do this,for instance, to send the information to their accountant or the likewho would be comfortable with and may indeed prefer to receive thefinancial information in a wholly numerical format.

The system is multiuser with all user access and editing rights tailoredby association with user privileges. More than one installation of thesystem can access a common database over a communications link such asthe internet. In two different places it can present the same financialinformation in two different formats simultaneously. In one place it mayallow the user to display graphically while in another location at thesame time it will allow another user to display numerically.

Whilst the above described embodiments related to planning a budget,other aspects of financial management can be conducted using the systemof the present invention. For instance, it could be used to represent awide range of financial reports including:

-   1. Grant Accounting and Budget Type Reports-   Expenditure, Recurrent and Capital-   Income-   Expenditure Running Totals-   Overviews-   Overview Maps-   Income and Expenditure Budget Checks-   Overall Actuals Checks-   2. Business Type Reports Which Include Gross Profit/Net Profit    Reports, Costs, Stock Reports, Assets and Liabilities, Depreciation,    And Stock And Profitability Over Time-   3. Budgeting Kits-   4. Coding Charts-   5. Wages Slips-   6. Rent Collection

Referring to FIG. 5 an example of a wages slip as represented by anembodiment, of a system according to the invention is shown. Money inbar graph 30 represents the gross weekly pay of an employee “JohnAdams”. Money out bar graphs 31 represent deductions from the grossweekly pay for items including “Rent”, “Service Charge” etc. Money inHand bar graph 32 represents the nett pay received by the employee andis calculated by subtracting the deductions from the gross weekly wage.The money in bar graph 30 may be manipulated to reflect the currentweekly wage of the employee on a particular week. Similarly, the moneyout bar graphs 31 may be manipulated by dragging to adjust the height ofthe bars to reflect changes in regular weekly deductions. The money inhand bar graph 32 automatically adjusts in height to reflect the changesmade to either money in bar graph 30 or money out bar graphs 31. Thefinancial information being presented in the wage slip is stored and maybe represented to the user in a wholly numerical format if desired.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example of an overview of a financial report fora small business is shown, in this example the report relates to anexample store. Report period graphic 4, indicates that the reportrelates to the period July 2001 to December 2001. The report shows thatthe Net Worth of the business has decreased by $20,000 over the period.In this example the graphical report is divided into three sections toreflect the financial report. These three areas are

-   -   1. Gross Profit section as indicated on a profit and loss report        illustrated by tank 41 and the graphics that surround it

-   2. Net Profit as indicated on a profit and loss report illustrated    by tank 54 and the graphics,that surround it    -   3. Funds Available for distribution to shareholders/members etc        as indicated on a profit and loss report and balance sheet        illustrated by tank 60 and the graphics that surround it.        1. Gross Profit.

In this example, in order to illustrate the principals involved in thisgraphical display as simply and clearly as possible, the size of theyear to date budget tank for the gross profit section of the report,graphic 41, is set to equal the point at which income from sales isequal to cost of sales.

The actual sales income is illustrated by bar graph 40 and the cost ofsales by bar graph 44. The cost of sales that need to be deducted fromactual sales income sources is shown by the thin vertical line 49 to theleft of the actual sales income bar graph 40. The targeted budget, hereyear to date budget for December 2001, is shown both by the line 48 thatcuts across the income sales bar graph 40 and by the rim 43 of tank 41.

When this target has been exceeded the thin line 49 joins to anotherline of a different colour 50 indicating a gross profit situation. Thelength of this thin line 50 is the same as the height of the grossprofit bar graph 51.

In addition, the actual sales income is directly proportional to thecombined sum of the volume of liquid in the tank 43 and the thickness ofthe stream of liquid overflowing from the tank 46, where the volume ofliquid filling the tank to the rim is equal to the targeted budget andthe thickness of the stream of liquid 46 overflowing the rim 43 of thetank is proportional to the amount of the gross profit. Gross profit isthe actual income that remains after the deduction of actual cost ofsales.

Note also that the thickness of the outflow, through the tap, 47 isdirectly proportional to cost of sales.

2. Net Profit

The principles operating in this section are the same as thoseapplicable to the gross profit section of this graphical report. Grossprofit available for expenditure on costs is shown as the overflow 46from tank 41 and as bar graph 51. Costs are shown as bar graph 55 and asliquid flowing from tank 54 via pipe 57. The budgeted amount for costsis shown by the size of tank 54. The net profit is shown by thethickness of overflow 53 that overflows the rim 56 of tank 54. Netprofit is also shown as the bar graph 52.

3. Funds Available for Distribution to Shareholders/Members etc.

The principles operating in this section are the same as thoseapplicable to the gross profit and net profit sections of this graphicalreport. The amount required to cover outgoings others is shown by thetank 60. The ‘Final. Check’ on the businesses position is shown by thebar graph 61 and by the absence of liquid overflowing the rim 66 of tank60 as shown by the warning indicator 62. The heights of 61 and 62 arethe same. This warning is further emphasised by the warning sign 59below. The level of funds from net profit are shown as the volume ofliquid 64 in tank 60. The short fall of funds from net profit 52 to thetarget amount as shown by the rim of tank 66 is shown as gap 65 betweenthe top of the liquid 64 and the rim 66 of tank 64. Outgoings/provisions(in certain instances, liabilities etc.) are shown as the liquid flowingfrom tank 60 via pipe 33 and by the bar graph 67. The fact that no fundsare available for distribution is shown by warning indicator 58 that issituated in the position where there would have been an overflow incomestream if funds were to have been available.

Each section above of this financial report can be expanded as required,with extra pages. For instance, where businesses and organizations havebudgets or targets for their costs, then actual costs 55 can be reportedagainst budgeted costs as illustrated in FIG. 2. The same can be donefor income 40.

This report may also be integrated into a larger graphical report suchas in instances where this report relates to one particular departmentor division in an organization which has several departments ordivisions.

In this example the combinations of graphical alterations that the usercan make which act as numerical agents into a rules based database arecomplex. Examples include:

-   -   The actual sales income to date can be inputted into the system        by dragging bar graph 40 to the desired height. This in turn        resizes and appropriately alters all the graphics related to the        resized graphic and alters the relevant numerical values in the        database.

For instance, one of the consequences of resizing of bar graph 48 isthat the level of liquid 64 in budget tank 60 is resized the equivalentamount.

-   -   The target/year to date budget can be adjusted by clicking with        a mouse cursor on an edge of tank 41 and resizing the tank.

Systems according to preferred embodiments operate on a personalcomputer operating under the control of a software program.Conveniently, the software program is written in a programming languagein which databases can be written and in which objects~can bemanipulated such as Delphi or Interbase.

While the above described systems have been described as operating on apersonal computer, it will appreciated by those in the art that anysuitable computing device can be used such as a mobile or othercomputing device.

Whilst the above described example involved the user manipulatinggraphics with a computer mouse this can also be achieved by other userinterfaces, such as touch screen, voice command or keyboard entry.

Any reference to prior art contained herein is not to be taken as anadmission that the information is common general knowledge, unlessotherwise indicated.

Finally, it is to be appreciated that various alterations or additionsmay be made to the parts previously described without departing from thespirit or ambit of the present invention.

1. A financial management system including: presentation means forpresenting financial information to a user wherein the financialinformation includes a planned value in respect of a pre-determinedperiod of time, a target value being a proportion of the planned valueat a pre-determined point during the period of time, and an actual valueas at the pre-determined point during the period of time, each of theplanned value, the target value and the actual value being representedby a graphic; the graphics are associated with one another so that thevariance between the target value and the actual value is visuallyapparent to the user; the system further including manipulation meansfor manipulating at least one of the graphics in response to an actionof a user; and modifying means for modifying the financial informationbased on the manipulation of the at least one graphic.
 2. A financialmanagement system according to claim 1 wherein the financial informationthat the at least one graphic represents is proportional to a dimensionof the graphic and the graphic may be manipulated by being resized.
 3. Afinancial management system according to claim 1 wherein the financialinformation that the at least one graphic represents corresponds to theposition of the graphic and the graphic may be manipulated by beingmoved.
 4. A financial management system according to claim 1 furtherincluding creation means for creating a graphic and the financialinformation represented by that graphic.
 5. A financial managementsystem according to claim 1 further including means for generating iconsindicative of positive and negative financial status.
 6. A financialmanagement system according to claim 1 further including means forstoring the financial information.
 7. A financial management systemaccording to claim 1 further including means for substituting the atleast one graphic with an alternative graphic.
 8. A financial managementsystem according to claim 1 wherein the means for presenting thefinancial information can represent the financial information whollynumerically.
 9. A financial management system according to claim 1wherein the planned value is a budget and the system further includesmeans for generating icons representative of budget items within thebudget.
 10. A financial management system according to claim 9 furtherincluding means for associating a graphic with each icon whereby thatbudget item can be modified by manipulating the graphic.
 11. A financialmanagement system according to claim 9 further including means forgenerating icons representing the time period over which a budget is toextend.
 12. A method of managing financial information including thesteps of: presenting financial information to a user wherein thefinancial information includes a planned value in respect of apre-determined period of time, a target value being a proportion of theplanned value at a pre-determined point during the period of time, andan actual value as at the pre-determined point during the period oftime, each of the planned value, the target value and the actual valuebeing represented by a graphic; associating the graphics with oneanother so that the variance between the target value and the actualvalue is visually apparent to the user; manipulating at least one of thegraphics in response to an action of a user; and modifying the financialinformation based on the manipulation of the at least one graphic.
 13. Amethod according to claim 12 wherein the financial information that theat least one graphic represents is proportional to a dimension of thegraphic and the step of manipulating the graphic includes the step ofresizing the graphic.
 14. A method according to claim 12 wherein thefinancial information that the at least one graphic representscorresponds to the position of the graphic and the step of manipulatingthe graphic includes the step of moving the graphic.
 15. A methodaccording to claim 12 further including the step of creating a graphicand the financial information represented by that graphic.
 16. A methodaccording to claim 12 further including the step of generating iconsindicative of positive and negative financial status.
 17. A methodaccording to claim 12 further including the step of storing thefinancial information.
 18. A method according to claim 12 furtherincluding the step of substituting the at least one graphic with analternative graphic.
 19. A method according to claim 12 furtherincluding the step of representing the financial information whollynumerically.
 20. A method according to claim 12 A method according toclaim 12 wherein the planned value is a budget and further including thestep of generating icons representative of budget items within thebudget.
 21. A method according to claim 20 further including the step ofassociating a graphic with each icon whereby that budget item can bemodified by manipulating the graphic.
 22. A method according to claim 20further including the step of generating icons representing a timeperiod over which the budget is to extend.
 23. (canceled)
 24. (canceled)